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Just to add a couple of things, a symbolic link is different from a hard link. A hard link (ommit the -s from the ln command) is exactly what a directory contains, it links a file name to an inode (which contains goodies like permissions, owner, file type, size, etc.). It is no coincidence that the C and Perl call to delete a file is 'unlink'. Hard links cannot span partitions, because inode numbers are unique only to partitions. Symbolic (or Soft) links can span partitions, and can even refer to files that are not mounted (such as NFS devices or Samba shares). The inode of a symbolic link "points" to a small file containing just the target file name. Do an ls -l on the link and you will notice the file size is the same as the number of characters in the link name. Modern file systems like ext2 store the target name in the inode itself if it is relatively small. Clive -----Original Message----- From: Mike Tidball [mailto:miketidball@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: 23 September 2003 22:15 To: list@xxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [LUG] Something Neil Williams said Last night I was having problems with my save as box and was told to $ ln -s /windows/E ./data Neil said (after I called it a shortcut) "It's much more than a shortcut". What else can you do with it,and what is it if it isn't a shortcut.A link? Mike Tidball -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe. ________________________________________________________________________ This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star Internet. The service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit: http://www.star.net.uk ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star Internet. The service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit: http://www.star.net.uk ________________________________________________________________________ -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe.